HEALTH INFORMATION

Obesity Statistics

Comparing the growing rate of obesity globally, nationally, and even in North Carolina shows how important it is to control this disease. The rise in obesity rates across the globe is researched constantly. The focus on the U.S. has been significant with an increase in the number of obese Americans growing from 13-percent in 1962 to an alarming 31-percent of the population in the year 2000.

In fact, two-thirds of Americans are overweight; and 24 million are living with morbid obesity today. The National Institutes of Health estimate that number will increase to 31 million in 2010. Those numbers have almost doubled in the last two decades and represent nearly 400,000 deaths from obesity and related health issues. Obesity is the number two cause of preventable death, behind tobacco.

Here are a few additional facts regarding obesity:

Globally, there are more than 1 billion overweight adults, at least 300 million of them obese. That number is projected to grow by 40-percent over the next 10 years. The U.S. ranks ninth in the world for being one of the most obese countries.

An estimated 3.8 million people in the United States are over 300 pounds, over 400,000 people (mostly males) weigh over 400 pounds and the average adult female weighs 163 pounds.

North Carolina was ranked the 14th most obese state in the country with an obesity rate of 29-percent.